Purpose: The Latin American Brain Tumor Board (LATB) is a weekly teleconference connecting pediatric neuro-oncologists from referral centers in high-income countries with pediatric subspecialists from 20 Latin American countries since 2013. This survey explored the participants' experience utilizing this resource.
Methods: A cross-sectional electronic questionnaire was distributed to 159 participants through email and Cure4Kids.
Results: Ninety-five respondents (60%) from all the participating countries completed the survey. Sixty-one reported frequent-attendance (≥ 1 per month), 23 reported infrequent-attendance (< 1 per month), and 11 never participated. The most frequently reported attendance-barriers were the subspecialist's workload (64%), the timing of the teleconference (38%), and Internet connectivity problems (29%). Subspecialist's workload was more frequently reported as a barrier compared with other barriers, in both the frequent- and infrequent-attendance groups (p < 0.05), with the exception of the timing of the meeting in the infrequent-attendance group. More than 80% of attendees found the frequency and duration of the teleconference were sufficient. Utilizing Spanish as the primary language was reported to enhance the recommendations by 93% of the attendees. Moreover, 84% reported that the recommendations (almost) always fit the local circumstances. Furthermore, 99% of attendees found the teleconference provided a continuing medical education opportunity. Finally, 96% of attendees (almost) always found that the provided recommendations helped to improve the outcomes/quality of life of the patients.
Conclusions: The LATB teleconference provided a valuable tool for the management of pediatric brain tumors in Latin America as it provided a feasible and easy to access continued medical education opportunity for the participants.
Keywords: Central nervous system tumors; Childhood brain tumors; Global oncology; Lower and middle income countries; Neuro-oncology; Telemedicine.